The Japanese army formed a suicide squad and launched a tide-like attack. The entire defense was in danger. Nie's troops invested all their troops before barely defending them. Another night came, and the killings on the city wall were still ongoing, and the officers and soldiers were extremely tired. At a battle between the walls, the Japanese army swarmed up, and the battle began. In the darkness, a soldier swung his butt and knocked down a Japanese soldier. At this time, a bayonet stabbed into his body.

The soldier took advantage of the situation and rolled into the Japanese group, and with an explosion, the Japanese army fell down. Several wounded soldiers in the corner also pulled the grenades and rolled into the Japanese formation. At this moment, the continuous shooting of submachine guns suddenly came from the inside of the city wall, and the Japanese soldiers entering the city wall were knocked to the ground one after another.[]

The reinforcements coming up threw grenades at the city, blocking the breakthrough. This scene was happening at any time on the city wall. The situation was extremely dangerous and the defense became more and more difficult. In front of the division headquarters of the 35th Division of the Japanese Army, a colonel fell in a pool of blood in front of the division commander. Yamamoto Yusuke leaned on the blood-dropping command knife with both hands and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Attack! Attack! Attack continuously." Obviously, the colonel in front of him was chopped by the knife when the attack was not good!

The Japanese commander went crazy, and the Japanese soldiers went crazy. The battle was dawn, and the danger was relieved. The soldiers fought tenaciously to withstand the Japanese attack. With the arrival of US bombers, the Japanese offensive momentum was curbed. The headquarters took into account the safety of Texas and added a US bombing wing. Now the headquarters can only do this!

Xu Haidong walked into the military command center with dust and black face: "Commander! The Japanese army is trying hard, this way of fighting is not good. Now the officers and soldiers are very tired, especially the casualties are becoming more and more unbearable, and they may not be able to defend tonight. I suggest giving up the city wall and entering the city to fight the Japanese army in a street battle?" Nie Rongzhen's gray cheeks were speechless. After a long time, he ordered to send a report to the headquarters.

Soon the headquarters called and agreed to give up the city wall after dark and retreat into the city to fight street battles. At the same time, the headquarters informed that Liu Zhidan's vanguard troops arrived at 5 o'clock tomorrow and told them to stay until dawn. At this time, a staff officer walked in and reported: "Report to the commander, the temporary hospital in the city is full of more than 5,000 wounded soldiers, and our medical measures cannot be achieved at all."

Nie Rongzhen said decisively: "Immediately mobilize the civilian doctors in the city to rescue the wounded to the greatest extent." Xu Haidong knew how much pressure the commander was now and said: "Chief, I'm going to the city wall." Nie Rongzhen said deeply: "Old guy, don't lead by example unless you have to!" Xu Haidong saluted and left.

As night came, Nie Rongzhen ordered the defensive troops to abandon the city wall and retreat into the city to fight street battles. The Japanese army paid a heavy price to accidentally occupy the city wall, but the Japanese army was in a dilemma for the subsequent street battles. The terrain quickly limited the Japanese army's attack speed. On this night, the entire city of Texas seemed to be a powder barrel, as if a big explosion would occur with a slight blew up.

Under the dark night, a large army appeared in Gucheng in eastern Hebei. The soldiers wore steel helmets and advanced lightly. From time to time, officers whispered in a low order: "Come on. Don't fall behind!" Liu Zhidan received an order from the headquarters that the ** Army of Dezhou City was very dangerous and ordered him to arrive at the battlefield at 5 a.m.

Therefore, Liu Zhidan ordered a brigade of the vanguard to advance lightly and must arrive at the battlefield on time. Liu Zhidan led the 3rd Army to advance all the way to Dezhou along the junction of Hebei and Shandong. Originally, his troops were equipped with a large number of trucks, but the bad terrain in this area, especially with a lot of small rivers, the trucks were moving slower.

Therefore, Liu Zhidan decided to march on foot, and at the same time, he ordered a regiment to follow the severity of the convoy to follow. Since the defensive battle, Liu Zhidan's troops have not had any major wars. After the song of a large counterattack was played, his troops did not enter the battle smoothly. At the beginning, Liu Bocheng led his troops to attack Jiaozuo, but at least he had achieved the battle. He had not done anything, so he had asked commander Wang Debiao several times. Wang Debiao himself was depressed. Just imagine, can he have good results?

Finally, there was a combat mission, and it was a decisive battle as soon as it came up. Liu Zhidan was naturally extremely excited. While Liu Zhidan ordered the vanguard to quickly reinforce Dezhou, he ordered the 8th Division to directly penetrate into Hengshui, with the purpose of annihilation of the Japanese army in the field.

The reinforcements arrived at the battlefield at 4:30, half an hour earlier than planned. The situation was very critical. The troops arrived at the battlefield and immediately launched an attack from the southwest. A fierce gunfire suddenly broke out outside the city, and the army command inside the city was cheered up when they heard it.

"Our reinforcements have arrived!" Nie Rongzhen shouted loudly. Everyone in the military department cheered, and everyone hugged each other, and tears wet their clothes. In just three days, it seemed as long as three years. With the gunfire outside the city even more violently, the Japanese army entering the city stopped attacking and then began to retreat.

The Japanese division commander Ayusuke Yamamoto was commanding the command to attack the city with all his might. He knew in his heart that no matter how much the price he paid, he would still have to occupy Texas again. The Japanese division, currently from Cangzhou, accepted his command, so he was determined to take down Texas before dark today.

Although it was dawn and the enemy's bomber group came to support it again, the troops had already entered the city, and the support efficiency of the bomber was greatly reduced. The reason was that the bomber could not bomb the city, which would cause accidental injury. Yamamoto Arisuke saw this, so there was no problem in taking Texas City during the day.

Yamamoto Yusuke issued a death order to the siege troops, and he must take down Dezhou City before dusk. For this reason, he ordered the 51st Division, which came from Cangzhou, to devote all its strength. Suddenly, there were fierce gunfires in the southwest direction, and Yamamoto Yusuke's last hope was shattered.

"Report to General, a large number of Chinese reinforcements appeared in the southwest direction. They launched a fierce offensive from the flank!" An officer covered in earth came in in a panic to report. Yamamoto Arisuke was shocked and immediately ordered the front-line troops to retreat. After receiving the order, the Japanese siege troops hurriedly began to retreat from the city.

Yamamoto Yusuke was quite wise. He did not order the retreat to Hengshui, but ordered the troops and the 51st Division to retreat to Cangzhou. Yamamoto Yusuke was experienced and knew that this Chinese team was stubbornly resisting for three days in Texas, and it was not easy to wait for reinforcements, so he wisely ordered the retreat to Cangzhou.

Originally, Liu Zhidan hoped to destroy the main Japanese army between Dezhou and Hengshui, but the vanguard of the 8th Division interspersed near Hengshui reported that the Japanese army was retreating to Hengshui. Liu Zhidan judged that the Japanese army had retreated to Cangzhou, so he ordered the troops to follow the Japanese army to pursue Cangzhou.

At noon, Liu Zhidan led his troops into Dezhou City. The bodies of Japanese soldiers killed, the bodies of our soldiers killed, and the bodies of ordinary people in the city were everywhere. Liu Zhidan was shocked by the scene in front of him, and there was no doubt how tragic the battle was at that time.

Especially when they saw the soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield, they were all ragged and unkempt, they must have paid a heavy price. The jeep was parked in front of the military department, and Nie Rongzhen, Xu Haidong and the military department staff were greeted in front of the door. Liu Zhidan got off the car and saw that the military department was also in disarray, and everyone had traces of gunpowder on their faces.

Liu Zhidan tried to say something, but he couldn't say it, so he had to raise his hand and salute solemnly to express his respect in his heart. Then Liu Zhidan and Nie Rongzhen hugged, and saw Xu Haidong wearing a bandage on his left arm and asked with concern: "Deputy Commander Xu, are you seriously injured?"

"It doesn't matter, it's just a little bit of skin! Commander Liu! If you don't arrive in time, it's hard to say!" Xu Haidong forced a smile on his dirty face. Liu Zhidan turned his head and said to Nie Rongzhen: "I know the battle is very cruel. We captured the Japanese wounded camp outside the city. There were 6,700 wounded soldiers inside. I guess the army suffered a lot of losses!"

Hearing this, Nie Rongzhen's face turned dark and said: "The casualties have not been counted yet. It is estimated that the total casualties of our unit may reach 16,000 people." Liu Zhidan held the opponent's hand silently, not knowing how to comfort the opponent.

After a long time! Liu Zhidan said: "President Peng is also very uncomfortable with your situation. When I call me and ask me to express my greetings, I will raise any difficulties." Nie Rongzhen said: "The headquarters has commended us and let us rest in Dezhou. The next step is to let our troops recover Shandong. Facing the final brutality of the Japanese army, our troops have suffered heavy losses, but we can fully bear it after completing the arduous tasks assigned to us by the headquarters. I have requested from the headquarters to advance to Jinan in the next step, and complete the replenishment of the troops while attacking."

The cruel war is inevitable to pay the price. As iron-blooded soldiers who have been through the battlefield, they quickly escaped from the painful atmosphere. Xu Haidong said: "Captain Liu, the Japanese army fled to Cangzhou with the intention of defending Cangzhou and eliminating the Japanese army in Cangzhou. You will complete the task of eliminating Cangzhou. Commander Nie and I discussed it and prepared to rest in Dezhou for 5 days, and immediately advance to Jinan after completing the supply."

Nie Rongzhen said: "The situation is great, and the Japanese army surrounding the circle has become a turtle in the jar. Although we have suffered heavy losses, what is this difficulty for us?" At this time, a combat staff officer ran over excitedly and said: "Captain Nie, the commander is calling!"

Nie Rongzhen hurriedly received the telegram, and saw it read: "Nie, Xu, two, I would like to express my deep respect for the great sacrifices you have made in your heroic battle. The commander and myself are proposed to decide: the Shandong ** Army will be promoted to the Shandong ** Column, Nie Rongzhen will be the commander, and Xu Haidong will be the deputy commander. The troops will be expanded by 100,000 people and will be under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense! Mu Yaping, deputy commander-in-chief of the three armies.

After reading the telegram, Nie Rongzhen's eyes were filled with tears! Liu Zhidan bid farewell to Nie Rongzhen and others, and then led his troops to move towards Cangzhou. The next step of the Japanese army, which could not escape, would probably have to defend all the strongholds and resist tenaciously. There is no doubt that the encirclement of the Japanese army was officially formed.

A few days later, Nie Rongzhen completed the air supply and then led his troops to advance to Jinan. There was a North Korean division in Jinan that had already heard of the news and fled to Qingdao. In fact, Jinan had become an empty city.
Chapter completed!